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RR 2010/302 The World Factbook Central Intelligence Agency Washington, DC URL: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ 1975Last visited April 2010 ISSN 1553 8133
Gratis
Keywords Countries, Electronic media, Guides and handbooks
Review DOI 10.1108/09504121011077057
The World Factbook is one of the programmes in the United States that has outlined basic foreign intelligence since the Second World War. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was established in July 1947; the first classified Factbook was issued in 1962, and the first unclassified one in 1971. It was a summary and update to the National Intelligence Survey, which provided "the essential elements of basic intelligence on all areas of the world" (p. ii). In 1975 the Factbook was made available to the public through the US Government Printing Office.
Published annually since 1981 in paper and online since 1997, The World Factbook provides information on the "history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities". It is included in the "library - Publications" section of the CIA website, accompanied by World Leaders and Maps and Publications. The About tab of the Factbook, or the first few pages of the paper edition, describe its evolution, including the addition of Appendices; new, combined, or updated sections; maps with more detail, etc. Following is Copyright (includes a citation model) and Contributors (multi-agency), and a Did You Know section, which complements...